Middle Ear Transfer Function in Acromegaly Patients

Acromegaly is a rare disorder in which growth hormone is secreted uncontrollably by the pituitary gland. Considering the risk of pathological effects of acromegaly on middle ear (ME) transfer function and hearing, we aimed to investigate the ME transfer functions of acromegaly patients who underwent transsphenoidal surgery using wide-band tympanometry (WBT) in this study.

Pure tone audiometry (PTA), 226 Hz probe-tone acoustic immitancemetry, and WBT were performed on all participants. Twenty-eight patients with acromegaly and 29 healthy subjects were included in the current study.

The mean age of the acromegaly group (11 males, 17 females) was 49.25 ± 9.57 years, and that of the healthy controls (13 males, 16 females) was 45 ± 10.02 years. The PTA means of the acromegaly and healthy groups were between normal limits, but the mean of the acromegaly group (20.73 ± 10.95) was significantly worse than that of the healthy group (12.02 ± 6.67, P=.000). The WBT non-pressurized and pressurized absorbance values of the acromegaly and healthy groups did not show statistically significant differences. The equivalent ear canal volumes at 1000 Hz (P=.041) and the equivalent ear canal volume measured by averaging the WBT (P=.023) of the acromegaly group were larger than those of the healthy controls.

The investigation revealed that the equivalent ear canal volumes were statistically significantly higher in patients with acromegaly. However, this did not impact the ME transfer function.